~~~Winter Special~~~ Play Date Idea #6: Baking Class, North London

It was a chilly day walking up the path towards the house where we were met by Gill.

She started her cookery school when her two children were very young and ran the cookery clubs in their school. Gill gains her recipes from simplifying ones she finds in books and magazines as she feels some are written with too many steps and she adapts them.

She has a series of recipes and her favourite this winter are savoury tarts with a wide selection of vegetables (aubergines, courgettes, carrots, turnips, butternut squash, leeks and peppers!) as well as cheeses. Most kids, she finds, prefer cheddar but the occasional child will opt for Stilton or Gruyère.

Breads with pistou inside are also on the menu this season ( I leave out the pine nuts because of allergies but they all seem to like pistou or squashed black olives & parmesan…another favourite).

Most courses have a seasonal soup too as the mums like this and it encourages lots of vitamins and minerals in their diet, especially for the fussy eaters. Sometimes it’s Minestroni and other times it mainly root vegetables and tomatoes or leek and potato which makes a lovely delicious creamy soup with crispy croutons.

What age range would you recommend this play date for?

There are classes for different age groups but the one we did on this session would be for 5-10 years

What was fun about the baking class?

Having a chit chat whilst enjoying making something new to eat

What was learnt from Gill?

Decorating techniques like marbling using a toothpick to create some creative designs which all the girls made and they came up with some impressive Halloween creations!

We also measured in an old school way to make the cake and biscuits. Learning to bake just using utensils as measuring tools was a different way to teach the kids that you can still bake something simple even if you don’t have scales around!

approx. 25g sugar = flat tablespoon

approx. 25g flour = rounded tablespoon

Gill also mentioned you can gain inspiration from a variety of places for your recipes such as food magazines, cookery books (Gill has over 400) and constantly reading and changing recipes to suit the occasion.

What did the kids like most about the experience?

Seeing them being creative with making their own Halloween designs. We had a family of quirky-shaped creatures, a wonderfully crafted skeleton and a spooky spider design.

What did I say to the kids?

That when they didn’t think something looked good or that maybe too much of an ingredient had been added, that it would be okay as they hadn’t yet finished and encouraged them they were doing well.

Do you recommend as a play date?

Yes, this is a great way for kids to interact with food ingredients and socialising whilst making different recipes together. And the kids love the eating part a lot too!

FUN: 7/10 EDUCATIONAL: 6/10 TICKET PRICING: 7/10

Gill also runs catering for special occasions like Barmitzvahs and birthdays. She also runs a cookery club as part of extra curricular activities after school and this includes any kids who are participating in the Duke of Edinburgh awards, wanting to do cookery as a choice in the course. For more info click the link below: